Can someone explain Gravity Blasts?

[Reluctant Messiah]

I've recently heard this term being thrown around and am curious as to what it is.

My apologies if it has been explained already.

[scum]

a blast were 16th notes are played on the snare basically it's just applying the free-hand technique(one-handed roll) to a blast beat

[JohnnyJihad]

*points to john longstreth*

woah

[Reluctant Messiah]

Thanks

[self mutilated]

it's a double hit in one stroke, hit the snare and the rim at the same time and let the tip of the drumstick come up and then just bring your hand straight up and repeat.. it makes fast snare blasts easy..

[connelldestructo]

http://frozensolid.net/drumvids/gravity1.avi

[glitch]

it's a double hit in one stroke, hit the snare and the rim at the same time and let the tip of the drumstick come up and then just bring your hand straight up and repeat.. it makes fast snare blasts easy..
i dunno who told you that, but mastering gravity blasts is one of the hardest things you can do.

[connelldestructo]

i dunno who told you that, but mastering gravity blasts is one of the hardest things you can do.

It can be "tricky" but it is VERY far from being "one of the hardest thing you can do".... Otherwise you wouldnt see SOOOO many DM drummers out there doing it.

[glitch]

It can be "tricky" but it is VERY far from being "one of the hardest thing you can do".... Otherwise you wouldnt see SOOOO many DM drummers out there doing it.


im not huge into DM so i wouldnt know, but, i know that what ive been told its pretty hard. i guess ill have to actualy try it

[connelldestructo]

Because of the big deal that is always made about the elusive "one handed drum roll", it is all to often portrayed as way harder than it actually is. In reality it is suprisingly simple.

[glitch]

Because of the big deal that is always made about the elusive "one handed drum roll", it is all to often portrayed as way harder than it actually is. In reality it is suprisingly simple.


it seems like its harder to explain than it actualy is to do. basicaly just a rimshot followed by letting the tip bounce off the head, am i correct?

[connelldestructo]

actually no... I think thats what screws alot of people up actually... In a rimshot you are bringing the stick down in an arc, like on any other normal stroke and hitting the rim at the same time for the purposes of engaging the sound of the shell more into your hit. In a gravity you are simply using the rim as a fulcrum, and are making every effort to keep it sounding like a normal, non-rimshot hit.

The stroke is different because you want to bring the stick down straight. So while traveling down, either end of your stick should both be travelling down at the same time, and you arent "swinging" the stick like in a normal stroke.

Your grip should remain static, and somewhat tight. You dont change you grip, or move your fingers around at all. When you push down like this, and hit the head with the tip, and the rim with the shaft of your stick at the exact same time, you should get a normal sounding snare hit, and as you push your hand below rim level, you stick automatically gets pushed back up at the tip. I demonstrate this from slow to fast, in the above video i posted. Now, in that vid, you can see that it looks like my fingers have moved on the downstroke. THEY havent moved, they HAVE BEEN moved... you keep you grip static, and as you push down, it is the movement of the stick forcing your grip open, not the other way around. Keeping your grip on the stick like this the whole time at that point makes your stick sort of "spring loaded" so that when you pull back up it instantly snaps back down once it is no longer being held up by the rim in an automatic 2nd stroke. and thats how it goes, more or less...

hope that helps...

[self mutilated]

i dunno who told you that, but mastering gravity blasts is one of the hardest things you can do.


know one told me i can play them... i've had it down for months i'm now showing my drummer how to do it.

[glitch]

actually no... I think thats what screws alot of people up actually... In a rimshot you are bringing the stick down in an arc, like on any other normal stroke and hitting the rim at the same time for the purposes of engaging the sound of the shell more into your hit. In a gravity you are simply using the rim as a fulcrum, and are making every effort to keep it sounding like a normal, non-rimshot hit.

The stroke is different because you want to bring the stick down straight. So while traveling down, either end of your stick should both be travelling down at the same time, and you arent "swinging" the stick like in a normal stroke.

Your grip should remain static, and somewhat tight. You dont change you grip, or move your fingers around at all. When you push down like this, and hit the head with the tip, and the rim with the shaft of your stick at the exact same time, you should get a normal sounding snare hit, and as you push your hand below rim level, you stick automatically gets pushed back up at the tip. I demonstrate this from slow to fast, in the above video i posted. Now, in that vid, you can see that it looks like my fingers have moved on the downstroke. THEY havent moved, they HAVE BEEN moved... you keep you grip static, and as you push down, it is the movement of the stick forcing your grip open, not the other way around. Keeping your grip on the stick like this the whole time at that point makes your stick sort of "spring loaded" so that when you pull back up it instantly snaps back down once it is no longer being held up by the rim in an automatic 2nd stroke. and thats how it goes, more or less...

hope that helps...
im on a 56k so the video tends to be to chopy for me to watch.

so basicaly, you keep the stick level and then directly after you complete the rimshot, you bring your hand down so that it is below the rim and drum, and this somehow creates two snare sounds...and you use what part of you rhand and arm to hit the drum? you said to keep fingers still and thats how i was taught...

[connelldestructo]

right click on the video link and the save it to your computer, it will take a little while to download if you are on dialup, but once its on yr PC you should be able to watch it smoothly, it should clear up the motions i explain.

[glitch]

i shoulda thoguht of that

wow, that looks way to esay. im going to go try it right now, thanks for the vid

[demonofthefall]

why is it called a gravity blast when it has nothing to do with gravity, ive always called it a hyper-blast.

[connelldestructo]

why is it called a gravity blast when it has nothing to do with gravity, ive always called it a hyper-blast.

i dont know, its just a gimmicky name. I only use it cause it has become the popularized term. Johnny Rabb dubbed it "The Freehand Technique", and otherwise they are sometimes described as "fulcrum rolls"

They arent hyperblasts tho, that is something different. They are fast blasts, with simultaneaus 8th notes on the kicks/snare/china in the 280 to 330 bpm range. ie, 1st beat on "Defenestration"

[demonofthefall]

i dont know, its just a gimmicky name. I only use it cause it has become the popularized term. Johnny Rabb dubbed it "The Freehand Technique", and otherwise they are sometimes described as "fulcrum rolls"

They arent hyperblasts tho, that is something different. They are fast blasts, with simultaneaus 8th notes on the kicks/snare/china in the 280 to 330 bpm range. ie, 1st beat on "Defenestration"

im a drummer, but i cant understand music terms, the "bpm" thing, and i cant read music either, i play whatever come natural to the feel of the music. but bassically, a hyper-blast is a blast beat overlapped with double-bass?

[scum]

it's called a gravity blast because gravity is basically doing half the work for you when you play the free-hand technique

[connelldestructo]

well, thats the thing, gravity isnt really doing half the work. or any of it. YOU push your are down, YOU pull it up, and the stick doesnt "fall" bakc down on the way up for the 2nd stroke, it gets snapped back down by the tension of your fingers/grip. So really it is an inaccurate name, but whatever....

a hyperblast basically is this:
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- <cymbal
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- <snare
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- <kicks

so everything at the same time, and really quite fast.

This is the Cryptopsy forum here right??? Flo is known for his hyperblasts.
Hyperblast=Flo's fast blasts.
Pre-Once Was Not, there are no "gravity blasts" or whatever you wanna call them. So just think of the fastest blasts on any of the 1st 4 Cryptopsy albums. Those are hyperblasts. This kicks go at the same rate as the snare. and the work is divided up between both feet so really its sorta like this:

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- <cymbal (usually a china in a hyper, but not necessarily)
s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s- <snare
r-l-r-l-r-l-r-l- <feet patter on kicks


blasts that have double bass underneath are usually slower, and are refered usually as cannibal-blasts(ala cannibal corpse), or bomb-blasts.

Now, picture you average cannibal copse blast, and double time the snare. there you have a gravity blast.

The "original" blast beat, and my personal fav, looks like this:

c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-
-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s
b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-

this one has the snare in between the bassdrum hits, and is basically a very sped up thrash/skank beat. some people divide the work between 2 feet, some use one foot.

[glitch]

i beleive the right way to do a blast is to alternate the hands, cymbal/snare

also, chinas are blasted in hyper blasts by flo from what ive noticed, seems to be his signature move

[demonofthefall]

well, thats the thing, gravity isnt really doing half the work. or any of it. YOU push your are down, YOU pull it up, and the stick doesnt "fall" bakc down on the way up for the 2nd stroke, it gets snapped back down by the tension of your fingers/grip. So really it is an inaccurate name, but whatever....

a hyperblast basically is this:
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- <cymbal
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- <snare
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- <kicks

so everything at the same time, and really quite fast.

This is the Cryptopsy forum here right??? Flo is known for his hyperblasts.
Hyperblast=Flo's fast blasts.
Pre-Once Was Not, there are no "gravity blasts" or whatever you wanna call them. So just think of the fastest blasts on any of the 1st 4 Cryptopsy albums. Those are hyperblasts. This kicks go at the same rate as the snare. and the work is divided up between both feet so really its sorta like this:

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- <cymbal (usually a china in a hyper, but not necessarily)
s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s- <snare
r-l-r-l-r-l-r-l- <feet patter on kicks


blasts that have double bass underneath are usually slower, and are refered usually as cannibal-blasts(ala cannibal corpse), or bomb-blasts.

Now, picture you average cannibal copse blast, and double time the snare. there you have a gravity blast.

The "original" blast beat, and my personal fav, looks like this:

c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-
-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s
b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-

this one has the snare in between the bassdrum hits, and is basically a very sped up thrash/skank beat. some people divide the work between 2 feet, some use one foot.

sweet. thanks for clearing all that up

[scum]

I propose we start calling the gravity blast the seesaw blast, or possibly the handshake blast

[connelldestructo]

yeah a "real" blast (the original blast, sometimes called the 'euro-blast') alternates between the cymbal and snare. that is the last one i notated there. The cymbal falls on the same hit as the kick drum, so its the same thing really as saying it alternates with the kick. So basically you end up with a single stroke roll being played between the cymbal/kick and the snare. To me the core of that blast is in the kick/snare rolling, rather than the cymbal tho... cause they are the 2 more percussive components. You can half time the cymbal, or do accents or varied patterns and it still has that blast feet because of the alternating kick/snare. To me it sounds much better and much fuller than in a blast where everything hits at once.

blasts where everything hit at once are often called "suffo-blasts", given the name thanks to being poplularized by mike smith of Suffocation. Check out Effigy of the Forgotten and you'll see what i mean, every blast on that album is an "all at once", non-alternating, suffo-blast. A hyperblast notation wise, is the exact same thing as a suffo-blast, except it starts being called a hyper once you hit those 'crack addict' speeds with them.

[glitch]

yeah a "real" blast (the original blast, sometimes called the 'euro-blast') alternates between the cymbal and snare. that is the last one i notated there. The cymbal falls on the same hit as the kick drum, so its the same thing really as saying it alternates with the kick. So basically you end up with a single stroke roll being played between the cymbal/kick and the snare. To me the core of that blast is in the kick/snare rolling, rather than the cymbal tho... cause they are the 2 more percussive components. You can half time the cymbal, or do accents or varied patterns and it still has that blast feet because of the alternating kick/snare. To me it sounds much better and much fuller than in a blast where everything hits at once.

blasts where everything hit at once are often called "suffo-blasts", given the name thanks to being poplularized by mike smith of Suffocation. Check out Effigy of the Forgotten and you'll see what i mean, every blast on that album is an "all at once", non-alternating, suffo-blast. A hyperblast notation wise, is the exact same thing as a suffo-blast, except it starts being called a hyper once you hit those 'crack addict' speeds with them.


i just call them blasts. which i need to work on more cuz i tend to tense up to easy.